From 25 years of inaction to a global transformation for public health

The Lancet Countdown’s 2017 report is being launched with events around the world. The report is the culmination of the work of 24 leading academic institutions and inter-governmental agencies, and tracks current progress on the relationship between public health and climate change.

The African launch of the report will be at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS)on 21st November 2017 at 18:00, followed by a reception. One of the report’s authors and STIAS Fellow, Prof. Peter Byass from Umeå University in Sweden, will present main findings and respond to questions.

The Lancet Countdown tracks progress on the relationships between human health and climate change, and their implications for governments’ commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement. It follows on from the work of the 2015 Lancet Commission, which concluded that anthropogenic climate change threatens to undermine the last 50 years of gains in public health, and conversely, that a comprehensive response to climate change could be “the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century”.